Blue 5
by firerwolf
Summary: Rewrite of Halo 5. Osiris adjusted slightly, Blue Team actually having a role, and no stupid "plot twist".
1. Osiris pt 1

Chapter 1

Four Spartans stood in silence around the holo-tank in the Pelican, watching the images before them. Ruined cities that had been full of innocent people, at the center of each image a giant crater. Palmer wasn't new to the sight of destruction, having seen her fair share of cities fall during the war. But there was something different about this. They weren't at war, in fact right now was some of the most peaceful time she'd known in her adult life. That was a depressing thought, but it was her reality. It was what made this carnage so chilling.

A new image appeared alongside the images of destruction, and while Palmer usually would be happy to see him, at the moment the appearance of Captain Lasky meant that there was work to be done. "Over the last 72 hours, 5 colonies have experienced identical events. Massive destruction. High casualties. All with what seem to be Forerunner origins." There was a visual weariness to the Captain as he briefed the fireteam. Tom had been through the wringer a few times as a Captain but this was a lot of destruction very quickly that they didn't understand. On top of that she was with her hand picked team for this mission leaving him understaffed on the bridge. She regretted leaving him without an XO but she needed to have her boots on the ground for this one. "Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey has managed to contact us, claiming to have information about the attacks."

"Of course she does," Sarah commented with a scowl. Halsey had made her life since Requiem hell and had caused all sort of problems for her, the _Infinity_, and her Spartans. Palmer could almost feel the Captain's eyes on her even though he couldn't see the gathered Spartans. He knew better than anyone her personal feelings toward the doctor. It had been a point of friction between them since ONI had ordered a hit on Halsey. Sarah let out a long breath and stepped into her Commander mode as she addressed her team. "Halsey's currently in the custody of a Covenant group on the planet Kamchatka. Our mission is to insert behind enemy lines, retrieve Halsey, and bring her back to the _Infinity_." Palmer turned her gaze to the image of the Captain and in some way she felt like he knew and he was looking back. In a way this mission would ease all that tension and bitter feelings between them. Her orders and what he wanted were finally aligning.

"Be aware, Dr. Halsey is in the hands of a group called the Didact's hand, which is lead by a wanted terrorist, Jul 'Mdama." Sarah's gaze turned to Spartan Holly Tanaka, a woman who she'd taken on a high risk mission against the Sangheili terrorist in the past. "Given the chance…I call dibs."

Lasky looked like he was going to object but thought better of it. "Good luck, Fireteam Osiris." The Captain paused for a moment and his voice softened. "Stay safe. _Infinity _out." The image of Lasky vanished and the Spartans were left looking over terrain maps and tactical assessments of the planet below. They didn't need any of it, Palmer had built this team and been sure they all had the data they were currently looking at well in advance.

Sarah stepped away from the holographic display, turning her attention toward the actual mission ahead. If she focused too much on the logistics she'd get in her own head and it would only cause problems. "Check your gear, Osiris, and prepare for drop." Palmer moved to where her gear was stowed and retrieved her pistol, checking it over. The routine task grounded her as she prepared for combat. It felt good to be in the field but even better knowing she may be able to close the door on a frustrating part of her life.

Spartan Edward Buck approaches her, eyeing her weapon. "Sure you don't want something with a little more impact?" he asked as he reached out to grab a shotgun.

"I think I'll leave the compensating to you," Palmer retorted with a slight smirk. Buck and her had a unique relationship that allowed for him to make those sort of jokes even though she was his CO. She'd first met Buck when she was in her early days as an ODST and he'd saved her life in a situation that had cost the lives of the rest of her squad. Of course she'd returned the favor years later after she'd become a Spartan on Draco III not long before he joined the Spartan IVs. He was one of the few Spartans she had full trust in which was why he was her second-in-command on this mission. She wasn't sure if it was their interactions and the sort of bond of combat it had forged between them or if it was simply that they had both been ODST before they became Spartans but she felt close to the man despite their past interactions being so limited. Her old Sargent always told her that what made a Helljumper a Helljumper automatically connected every trooper. She had yet to meet an ODST that really disproved him.

Buck smiled in a way that spoke to past events between them. "You know I have nothing to compensate for."

Sarah shook her head slightly but she was honestly thankful for him at the moment. She'd never gotten used to being in command, not completely, but the banter set her at ease. "I've seen you in combat," she pointed out as she turned to walk away. "I beg to differ." Buck tried to look hurt but his smile gave away his amusement.

"You sure we can't do a round of rock paper scissors for the split-lip? " Tanaka asked as she counted and checked her backup ammunition. Palmer could understand the woman's desire to take down the Covenant leader. Tanaka had been part of a mission to stow away aboard one of the Didact's Hand's ships in an effort to capture whatever Halsey was leading the terrorist to. Of course because Halsey had been involved everything went to Hell and no one came out with anything positive. In fact they'd lost any chance at everything there had been to gain. But during that mission Tanaka had proven to be effective and able to handle being behind enemy lines. It made her perfect for this mission.

"You can clear his personal guards for me to get to him," Palmer offered the other woman. "I'm sure if he trusts them enough to have them protecting him they'll have plenty of blood on their hands." The Didact's hand had been attacking civilian populations, attacked military instillations, and given Spartans just about every reason to hate them. Having had a mission fail because of him and Halsey was more than enough reason for Tanaka to want Jul's head as much as Palmer did. But Palmer was a Spartan Commander and the burden of command had to have some perks.

"Beggars can't be choosers," Tanaka conceded with a small shrug.

"Tracking gear is operational," Spartan Locke informed her as he approached.

Palmer lifted her forearm and checked the system herself before she nodded. "Good," she responded. There wasn't much else to say to the man. It wasn't that she didn't like Locke, but she didn't know him. While Tanaka and Buck were her personal choices Locke had been forced onto her team by ONI. It wasn't his fault that he had been assigned to this mission but his presence being required by the shadow organization made Palmer cautious. She had a feeling he was here for more reasons than running the tracking softwear.

"So, any ODST pre-drop rituals you wanna share with us?" Tanaka asked as she retrieved her helmet.

"Believe it or not, we didn't really do drops like this," Buck replied as he attached his shotgun to the back of his armor.

"Every Jumper I knew who did a ritual is dead, so we skip it," Palmer informed them as she moved to the back of the pelican and lowered the hatch. Wind whipped past the rear of the vehicle and Palmer turned back to her soldiers. Locke and Tanaka approached, put on their helmets on, and jumped out into the open air.

"You know usually we would use pods," Buck pointed out before he handed Palmer her helmet.

Sarah took the offered gear and chuckled. "You getting chicken in your old age?" she teased. Buck smiled and Palmer slipped on her own helmet. "Feet first, Trooper." Buck just grinned before he slipped on his own helmet and launched himself out of the back and Palmer followed him.

The four Spartans dove toward the snowy mountains below and the battle that was raging there Palmer had looked at the recon reports about the conflict but there was nothing like seeing it with your own eyes to really understand the situation. It seemed worse than the reports had made it sound. Below there were Covenant cruisers being fired on by Forerunner canons and what seemed to be a multitude of ground engagements. "Comm check," Palmer ordered.

"Comms online," Tanaka responded a second before she slammed into a Banshee, causing it to blow up. The Spartan's shields flared and then recharged, her armor undamaged.

"No need to flex, Tanaka," Buck commented but his voice gave away his amusement.

"Comms online," Locke responded, ignoring the joke and clearly focused on the mission.

As they neared the ground Palmer angled herself to match with the slope of the land below them. "Weapons free, Osiris," she ordered. In unison the Spartans all adjusted their position and fired their thrustors to slow their speed. Palmer was peripherally aware of her teammates and where they were, her focus turning to what was ahead of her. She waited until right before she was going to collide with the mountain side to cut her thruster. Palmer hit the ground and she rolled to take the impact, jumping to her feet and starting to run with her momentum.

Their enemies were caught off guard by their surprise appearance, an opportunity that the Spartans gladly took advantage of. Palmer put a single shot of her magnum into the heads of three Unggoy before she grabbed a Sangheili and pushed it to her side. She looked back in time to see Buck pump a shotgun shell into the enemy before jumping over the fallen foe. Sarah turned her attention back forward as she continued down the slope moving out of the way of falling debris or out of the way of Promethean fire. She fired on whatever enemies were in her line of sight, either killing or weakening them for the other side to kill. Despite the chaos around her Palmer felt completely at ease in the heat of combat. Since she'd become a soldier the center of a battle was where she always wanted to be. After all she'd become an ODST for a reason. Sarah didn't bother keeping track of if those she shot died. Culling the heard wasn't an objective of their mission, but she wouldn't pass the chance to lower their numbers.

Osiris reached the bottom of the slope and dropped down to even ground bellow. A plume of snow surrounded Palmer as she landed, startling the Covenant forces they stumbled upon. Buck was the first to react, slamming the butt of his gun into a Sangheili's head, causing it to drop the energy sword. Palmer moved forward, scooped up the blade, and clicked it to life before cutting down another Sangheili. Sarah glanced to her side where Locke was breaking a line of King-Yar and an Unggoy behind him was pulling back its arm to throw a grenade. Palmer hurled her energy blade at the smaller alien, killing it before it could launch its projectile. The plasma grenade exploded harmlessly but got Locke's attention. Locke turned to Palmer and silently nodded his thanks which she returned.

"Crap," Tanaka spat, causing Palmer to turn her attention forward and to the two Hunters before them.

"Get down," Buck shouted before he slammed into Palmer. She was about to ask him what he thought he was doing when a Phantom crashed into the ground where the Hunters had been. Sarah waited until the burning wreck had come to a stop and the snow had settled. "I can't decide, was that luck or not?"

Palmer got to her feet and reached out a hand to help Buck up. The male Spartan took the offer and let her pull him to his feet. "Thanks for the save."

Buck nodded and Palmer could almost see his charming smile. "I got your back," he assured her.

Sarah checked her weapon and turned to the rest of her team. "Let's get ourselves a war criminal." Palmer turned toward the route ahead and focused in on their mission.

Author's note: So I have a lot of ideas for this story. Unlike when I wrote Blue 4 where it was still the same events just with Blue Team included this story would include real changes to the events of Halo 5. The thing is that it will be a big undertaking if i continue this story. While somethings will be simplified I'm looking at two to three chapters for each level and even adding more 'levels' worth of events to make it an actual dual campaign style story. So if you're interested in me writing more I just need a comment. You don't have to say anything positive or negative if you don't want to. Just say you want me to continue. Considering the investment of time and effort it would be for me I just want to know that it's worth the effort.


	2. Osiris pt 2

Blue 5 Chapter 2

Fireteam Osiris carved through the enemy lines, both Promethean and Covenant. Despite being a newly formed team Palmer was satisfied with how the four of them meshed on the battle field. It wasn't much of a fight to get along the frozen path to a Forerunner structure that would lead the way to their target. Palmer watched Buck Spartan charge a crawler and the robotic enemy break apart. She tossed down the depleted plasma repeater she'd been using and snatched the boltshot that the crawler dropped.

"That's the last of them," Tanaka announced as she joined up with the rest of the team, looking over a Scattershot she'd scavenged. "At least the Prometheans drop better weapons than the Covenant."

"Yeah, but that means they're using better weapons against us," Buck pointed out.

"Everything comes with a price," Palmer said, taking point as they moved toward the structure, the door opening for them without interaction. She lifted her weapon as the doors slid silently open, only relaxing slightly when she saw that nothing was waiting on the other side. The door led into a singular somewhat round room. The walls were lined with indents that Palmer couldn't figure the use for. In the center was a raised platform and protruding from the wall above was another platform. Sarah took point and her team followed inside. "If we go through here we should just need to follow a path ahead and it will lead directly to the location Halsey gave us."

"Still can't believe she called us," Tanaka said, eyes searching the room for anything out of place. "Last time we saw her she was adamant about not being caught."

"In her transmission she said that it was about something big, " Locke said, taking the moment out of combat to check the datatablet attached to his forearm. "Considering ONI lifted the hit on her they must think it's legitimate."

"It could also be a trap," Palmer pointed out as she made her way to the center of the room. She was tense, waiting for something to teleport in from nowhere and break the moment of calm. "In my experience that's also the most likely."

"With the fighting outside I can't say that what's happening here looks like the setup for a trap," Buck commented with a slight shrug. "But maybe she's just that much of an evil genius."

"If it's a trap it's the most elaborate trap ever," Locke spoke up. "Just listen to this."

A deep voice that was obviously translated Sangheili was transmitted through the team com system. "I never believed 'Mdama had as much control over these Prometheans as he claimed. He claws at whatever advantage presents itself. We will see if this mission bears any fruit or whether it becomes yet another in his long list of failures."

"It sounds like Jul is facing a rebellion," Locke concluded. "Nothing in the reports on Halsey or Jul indicates they could create that complicated of a ruse."

"Well my experience with Jul tells me that a rebellion isn't uncommon for him." Palmer had to admit that it was unlikely that this was all a hoax as Jul was loosing too many soldiers for it to be an act. "Be ready for either situation but as long as someone's doubting Jul's command then we might be able to use that to our advantage."

"Wouldn't be the first time," Tanaka muttered. During the mission she'd taken Tanaka on they'd only made it back to human space because a Sangheili that fancied himself a better leader than Jul. Palmer had never been against using an enemies hubris for her own benefit.

Palmer signaled for the team to halt and wait as she moved toward the door. "Either way Jul's in the next structure so we should expect the highest concentration of forces between here and there." She frowned as the door didn't open and another look around the room showed no sign of anything being active. "Seems the power's out."

"Must be a security lockdown," Locke suggested. "You can use the Artemis to try to get it running. It can analyze Forerunner systems."

"Well it better be useful for something," Palmer said as she activated her Artemis systems, sending a pulse out through the room. Palmer had read the summary of what the Artemis system was but as she watched the pulse move across the room she knew that it was more than an analysis softwear. She could name a half-dozen things it was probably doing that ONI hadn't told her about. But that was sort of their trademark: not telling their own people the full truth, even when they should. There was a ping above her and she moved back to the center of the room. She moved onto the raised platform in the center of the room and , with a running start, she jumped up, hand gripping the edge of the higher platform where the ping was. Sarah pulled herself up with ease. Ahead of her was a single lit up triangle which was highlighted by a waypoint. She raised her left forearm and swiped her hand over her armor. The Artemis systems came to life, some simplistic icons appearing, at least giving the illusion that it was working. Some dots, a bar graph and a readout of percentage seemed to have no real connection to what was happening but she didn't think punching it was going to be more effective. Palmer was on edge as she waited for it to complete, not confident in the system or that this wasn't a mistake. Something about Forerunner tech made her uneasy. Every time they seemed to find some new Forerunner anything it made everything worse.

A symbol that looked Covenant appeared at the terminal and the platform she was standing on started to drift down. It stopped when it was level with the platform in the center of the room and she descended to rejoin her team. She glanced around at the indents in the walls, noting that each one was now lit up by a completely different Covenant-like symbol. She took a moment to look at each one, knowing the eggheads would want a chance to analyze it all, before turning to look at the now open door. "All right, Osiris, on your toes," she instructed as the Fireteam forged ahead.

The Spartans moved out of the structure into an icy cave that was thankfully devoid of enemies. They started down the winding path, keeping a bit to the left of the cave to avoid the spots where the wall was missing, opening up to a straight drop off the mountain. They halted as the mountain shook under their feet and something passed buy one of the openings in the cave. "Is that a Kraken?" Tanaka asked.

"Where's it heading?" Palmer asked, turning to Locke who was still monitoring the comms.

"Someone is assaulting the back of the temple ahead of us, he must be moving it up to try to relieve their assault." Locke paused for a moment as he checked the new transmissions before he continued. "He's digging in and holding position."

"Sounds like Jul's getting desperate," Buck commented.

"Which means we might have an opening," Palmer concluded as she continued down the path. It eventually opened up to a hill where Covenant and Prometheans were actively fighting against one another. Forerunner canons along the side of the hill fired up at the Kraken which was peppering the Forerunner armaments with plasma. Sarah hoped that meant that it would be preoccupied enough to not be a threat to her team. On the hill ahead of them a squad of Covenant were trying to break through a line of Promethean Soldier units that were guarding a door.

"It's nice to see our enemies shooting each other for once," Tanaka commented as the Spartans took in the scene.

"We gonna get mixed up in that cluster?" Buck asked, looking to Palmer.

"We don't have time to get sit around and wait for one side to win. The longer the fighting goes on the more danger Doctor Halsey is in," Locke answered.

"I asked the Commander," Buck pointed out, a bit aggressively. Palmer considered reprimanding him for his attitude toward a teammate but she couldn't blame him. The both of them had been the victims of ONI meddling in the past. It was reasonable to her that he was hostile toward an ONI insert. Hell the first time they'd met it was because ONI had used her as bait for his team and the only reason she'd come out alive was because of him.

"Any mention of us on the comms?" Palmer asked, watching the scene ahead of her and considering her options.

"None," Locke answered.

"Alright, move along the ridge to the right, target Promethean enemies," Palmer ordered. It was a bit of a risky call, basically siding with the Covenant soldiers but she was betting on the fact that Jul's group had attracted all the worst sorts of Sangheili. Sarah moved forward, making her way to the elevated side of the battlefield. As long as they didn't fire on the Covenant she hoped they'd just accept the help.

Palmer took aim with her light rifle toward some soldier units that were manning stationary guns higher up the hill. One of the few things she liked about the robotic enemies was that they lacked the energy shields that made Covenant enemies sometimes a pain to deal with. It meant that it only took a few well placed shots before her targets were destroyed. Beside her Tanaka disintegrated crawlers as they charged the Spartans like a suicidal Unggoy and Locke was tossing a grenade forward to try to flush out a Soldier that was hiding ahead of them. For something that couldn't feel pain Prometheans were cowards about being shot at.

The Spartans made their way up the hill until they cleared out the last of the Promethean soldiers that were guarding a platform which lead to the Forerunner structure. "Hold your fire," Palmer instructed as they approached the platform where the Sangheili were standing near the door. There were two blue armored Majors and a gold armored Commander. Palmer lowered her gun as her team approached the warriors but she was tense, unsure of what the opposing soldiers would do. As the Spartans nearer the Sangheili Commander muttered something to the other two and they nodded in response. The blue armored soldiers attached their plasma rifles to their thigh armor and started making their way back down the hill, not even glancing in the direction of the four humans. The Commander remained beside the door, plasma repeater held loosely but he was clearly watching them. Palmer watched him in return as she continued toward the door, waiting to see if he tried to stop them. To her relief as they passed the Sangheili Commander simply nodded to her before he to started to move down the hill. Sarah waited until her team were all safely inside the structure before she let herself relax at all.

"Guess he isn't a fan of Jul," Buck commented, still looking back at the door as though the Sangheili were going to bust through at any moment.

"I'm not sure anyone is a fan of Jul," Palmer responder, keeping her eyes forward as they moved down the halls. She didn't doubt that there would be possibly more guards for the Covenant leader. "Guys like him aren't leaders, they're opportunists. You don't pledge loyalty to a guy like him." Palmer didn't doubt that there were plenty that were still religious zealots that believed in the cause but that didn't mean believing in the guy in charge. It had been a gamble that the Sangehili would not turn against them but it hadn't been a reckless one. She knew enough about the Didact's Hand that it was pretty safe to bank on the Sangheili Commander was either an opportunist seeing an opening or a zealot that was seeing the turning of the Prometheans against Jul as a sign from his gods. She'd seen the same situation with human rebellion groups dozens of times and in Sarah's experience the lessons she'd learned from humans applies more to the Sangheili than most people liked to admit.

The Spartans made their way down the halls until they came to a door. Panels slid away showing windows that looked into the room ahead. It also revealed a menacing metal face that was waiting for them. "Knights!" Palmer exclaimed, for a moment her fight or flight response kicking in before she registered that there was a barrier between them. The Knight flinched back as part of its side armor shattered from enemy fire behind it. The promethean immediately ignored the Spartans to focus on the Covenant inside the room with it. The right rear of the bulbus part of its back had broken away, leaving its glowing core partially visible to Osiris. "Looks like they're the newer, heavy type. Keep moving and target the weak spots," Palmer instructed. She'd never actually encountered this type of knight in the field before, only in the sims, but they weren't an impossible foe.

The windows dropped and the Spartans moved forward. Tanaka opened fire and broke off the second weak spot on the Knight's back, leaving it open for Buck to shoulder charge into it's back, destroying the enemy. Palmer turned her attention to the three remaining Knights in the room and the group of Covenant that were firing on them. The Covenant forces had already damaged the Knights slightly but seeing as robots didn't feel pain the Prometheans were standing strong under fire. One of the Knights jumped up into the air and fired a single blast from it's Incineration Cannon, wiping out the alien forces. With the Covenant now dead the Prometheans turned toward their aggression toward the Spartans.

"Divide and conquer!" Palmer ordered, and the Spartans split up. Sarah moved towards the walls of the room to give herself some room away from the heavy Prometheans. She fired on the knight that was the furthest from her so she'd be able to hit the weak glowing spot on its back, just trying to dodge enough of the shots from the knight closest to her to avoid her shield dropping. The armor shattered and a second later the other side broke under Tanaka's assault. The knight turned to face what had damaged it, leaving it's glowing back open for Buck to destroy. With one of the larger threats down Palmer turned her attention to the crawlers that were darting around the room, firing wildly. She'd gotten rid of about a half-dozen crawlers before the knight she was rotating towards had part of its back broken. It turned to face the source of the damage which gave Locke the chance to run forward and with a strong swing and smash the other half of the promethean's armor. The knight pivoted when it was damaged, leaving Locke in close range. Palmer changed her angle and charged at the now exposed back of the knight, hitting the thrusters on her suit to close the distance faster and slammed her shoulder into the machine's back, destroying it.

There was a roar of anger and Palmer turned around to find that the final knight had charged her. It suddenly stalled as if it had tripped before it the promethean lurched forward and disintegrated, leaving Tanaka standing with her scattershot in hand. "Watch your back," the female spartan commented.

There was a clatter as Buck finished off the last of the Crawlers. "I think that's the last of them," he said as he glanced around the room. "Man I'm glad that these mutts don't yelp like dogs or I might feel bad about destroying them."

"I'd destroy all the yelping Crawlers in the universe to have knights you can just shoot in the head to destroy," Locke said.

"Amen to that," Palmer replied. "Halsey should be through that door. Let's retrieve the asset, kill the terrorist, and get the hell off this ice cube."

"Oorah!" Buck barked as he moved to pick up the incineration cannon.

"We need Halsey alive, not destroyed in a fiery explosion, even if I want her to," Palmer reminded him.

Buck dropped the heavy weapon and picked up the light rifle from one of the other fallen knights. "I'm nothing if not accommodating." Palmer stared at him for a moment and as she anticipated the male Spartan made up his own comment. "That's just mean," Buck muttered, turning toward the exit.

The Spartans moved out of the room and onto a wide balcony. Palmer motioned toward some nearby crates that they could use as cover. They ducked out of view and Palmer peeked out to take in the tactical situation. There was a trio of Sangheili that were pacing as they guarded the area, clearly concerned about the threat at their door step. Sarah considered it lucky that they hadn't spotted Osiris as they had entered. But what caught her attention was the blue armored Sangheili standing in the center of the balcony and the old woman that was standing beside him. "Clear the guards, I'm going to charge Jul," Palmer instructed her team.

"What is he takes Halsey hostage?" Locke asked.

"She may be old but the Doctor's smart enough to knows how to back away from a threat." Palmer wasn't about to treat Halsey like she wasn't prepared for the Spartan's arrival. After all she'd called them and it wasn't like her and Jul were friends. "Just deal with the guards."

"Yes, ma'am," Locke said, assuring her that he'd do as he was ordered.

Palmer motioned toward Buck and then toward the guards. "We go when you break the silence," she ordered. Buck nodded and raised up, lifting his light rifle and sighting one of the guards. There was nothing like killing an enemy soldier to make some chaos and an opening.

Buck fired and one of the Sangheili guards dropped like a sack of spuds. Palmer moved out of her cover and charged toward the Covenant leader. One of the guards tried to move toward her but she dropped to the ground, sliding past the alien, and quickly getting back on her feet to continue her charge. Once she was past the guards as far as she was concerned Jul was the only other person there. As she charged Palmer let the last two years urge her forward as fast as she could go. She let every failed mission, every civilian casualty, and every KIA Spartan Jul had been responsible be the fuel for her rage.

Jul grabbed an energy sword from his hips, flicking it to life, and focused in on Palmer. The female Spartan fired on her enemy but he rolled to the side to avoid the damage. Sarah hit her boosters on her armor, dodging toward the side to keep in line with him and continued forward. Jul swung his blade and the part of Palmer that was forged as an ODST kicked in and she fired at close range at the Sangheili's chest until her weapon was empty. His energy shield popped and Palmer smashed the now empty weapon against Jul's skull. Jul was stunned for a moment but before Palmer could strike again his hands reached out, grabbing her helmet. Before he could take another swing with his blade Palmer dropped her spent weapon, gripped the Sangheili's wrist with both hands, used it to pull herself up with a slight jump so she could slam her feet into the Sangheili's chest. Jul released her and was knocked back and Palmer released his hand, allowing herself to thud to the ground. Palmer rolled to her feet and was happy to see Jul slower to recover. She spotted the deactivated energy sword that Jul had dropped and she knew that this was her chance. Palmer quickly scooped up the blade, clicked it to life, and just as Jul was starting to get to his feet she swung.

The two parts of Jul fell lifelessly to the ground and Palmer let herself breathe for just a second. After more than a year of the terrorist leader making her life hell he finally lay dead at her feet. And damn did it feel good. Her blood was still boiling but there was an edge of relief as she took in the moment. Jul's death wouldn't bring back any of the soldiers she'd lost or take away the stress and pain of the last year, and if she could she'd resurrect him so he could suffer again and again for what he'd done. But killing him, knowing he wouldn't be able to harm the things she cared about, would have to be enough. She took a second to let the fire in her veins quiet before she pushed aside her own feelings about the terrorist's death. She'd celebrate it properly later over some drinks with Tom, but for now she had a job.

Palmer looked behind her to see Tanaka pulling her blade from the last of the guard's throat. With the last of the threats clear Palmer turned to look to Halsey who had wisely backed away the moment the Spartans had attacked. She seemed hesitant and considering everything that had happened since Sarah had had the misfortune of meeting the Doctor she couldn't really blame the old woman. "You better have something good," Palmer said.

"It's something that could be massive," Halsey answered. Palmer scowled as she registered that for the first time she felt like Halsey was being completely truthful.

Note: Hopefully this chapter gives you a better understanding of my intentions with this rewrite. It's not about a drastic overhaul of the story, but fixing the things that I had problems with in the game. Things like Jul's lack luster death. I hope you continue to read. Thank you.


	3. Blue Team pt 1

Blue 5: Blue Team pt. 1

"It's insulting, that's all," Fred complained as he checked his ammo supply. Kelly was only passively listening to his comments, having heard it all before. She shared his frustration but had moved past the point of wanting to expend energy talking about it.

Since John's return it had regularly been mentioned or advised that the Master Chief be removed from active duty. It wasn't like Kelly didn't see why people would advise it from a political point of view. Over the last year Blue Team's operations had been used in anti-UNSC propaganda. It didn't look good to have the use of a war hero portrayed as excessive force. But Kelly didn't care about appearances or politics. The real point of contention for the members of Blue Team was the tone and implications of the recommendations. To Kelly they were an insult toward John and his capabilities. He was fit for duty, as all of them were, and the idea that he was somehow wearing himself out by staying in the field was ridiculous. For his part, John always argued the recommendations were more an insult to the rest of Blue Team. Since the war had ended they'd been working tirelessly for the UNSC but no one was calling for them to take a break. In his view it portrayed Fred, Linda, and herself as expendable - not worth the same concern. In the end however they all took offense at the divide that people were trying to put between them. They were Blue Team, and they were all equals.

"They don't know us," Kelly said, mild annoyance in her voice. "John's fine. And the day that someone who's never even met John knows him better than I do is the day I marry an Unggoy."

The door to the cockpit opened and John walked into the rear compartment of the Pelican. The conversation stopped dead at his appearance. There were more pressing matters at hand. "We got the green light," he informed them. Kelly held out his assault rifle for him and John took it. "Thanks, Bunny." He readied the weapon and looked around at the other Spartans. "Everyone ready?"

"Just been waiting on you," Linda quipped as she hefted her sniper rifle and moved toward the rear of the Pelican. The Spartans gathered at the rear of the vehicle and Linda keyed the controls. The back door slid open with an uneasy silence as it opened to the void of space.

The Spartans pre-fired the thrusters on their suits, and after a moment to ensure there were no equipment failures, John gave the order. "Blue Team, fall out."

As one the Spartans pushed off from the Pelican, launching themselves into the emptiness. They moved in unison through the asteroid field, making micro adjustments to avoid collision with any asteroids while keeping a loose formation. Over the years the Spartans had fought all manner of enemies; from Unggoy, Sangheili, Prometheans, to an actual Forerunner. But there was one enemy they were always wary of. Space. Just one small collision with a piece of debris could damage their EVA equipment and they'd risk being lost. There was no worse fate to a Spartan than being left adrift in the void, no way to fight back.

They shot toward the station ahead of them, making course corrections to shift their formation to a firing line. As they neared the large window that was their target the four Spartans lifted the weapons in sync. When they were within range, Fred and John opened fire with their rifles, peppering the window with bullets to weaken it. The Spartans crashed into the cracked glass and it shattered under the force. They passed into the artificial gravity of the station and landed on the metal floor. Kelly quickly took stock of the situation, noting the five Sangheili that had been caught off guard. The aliens turned to face Blue Team and one of them snapped his energy sword to life, prepared to fight. But fighting wasn't part of the plan for the Spartans. Yet.

The vacuum of space started to pull on Kelly and she activated her thrusters to keep herself in place long enough for the magnets on her boots to activate, securing her to the floor. The Sangheili lacked anything that would do the same for them and were lifted up toward the gaping hole. Kelly ignored them as they were sucked past her out the broken window, more focused on making certain no slip ups resulted in her following them. The blast door closed, cutting off emptiness' grip.

Kelly scanned the room for any remaining hostiles and, once she was sure it was clear, relaxed. "What do we know about the Argent Moon?" Fred asked. He may have passed over leadership of Blue Team to John, but after five years of being in charge he hadn't shaken some of his habits.

"ONI research station," Linda answered, lowering her sniper rifle. "Went dark nineteen months ago. Last week, Kig-Yar scavengers found it, and sold the find to Jul 'Mdama's people."

"We clear the Covenant and return the station to ONI," John reminded them. It was a simple enough mission compared to what Blue Team had done recently.

"Fastest route to retrieval is to seize Central Control. Eliminate hostiles between here and there, then deactivate gravity and life support systems." Kelly was glad of the familiarity of their task. A "milk-run mission" as the Spartan IVs would have called it. She wasn't going to let the routine nature of their assignment cause her to be caught off guard, but it was nice to have a playbook for what to do. "Data center should be ahead where we can download the schematics."

"Wish ONI had just given us the schematics," Linda said, taking up the rear of their formation to watch their backs. "They have to have them in a lockbox somewhere." The Spartans moved down a large ramp and past a few large windows that looked out on an assembly bay.

"For a station this secret they probably only have a paper copy," Fred joked. "And there's only one."

John lead them down a small ramp onto a catwalk that overlooked the hangar bay. "I doubt there's even a paper copy," John commented as he moved to the edge of the ramp, examining the half-finished ship. "It looks like they were designing a new stealth class vessel here."

"They lost years of expensive R&D with this station," Kelly said as she moved to John's side. "How was this place left drifting for two years?" The Spartans continued forward, following the catwalk.

"Location wasn't consistent with drift patterns," Linda replied.

"How? ONI wouldn't let something with this level of research just vanish." Fred's unease was clear. He was never as good as John at hiding his feelings, but Kelly had learned over the years to gauge exactly when his tone meant it was something serious.

The path lead them out of the bay and back into a hallway. John signaled for them to halt before he moved to one of the terminals against the wall. "How else could ONI lose a research station?" Linda answered with a question, turning to watch the way they'd come while the Chief worked. "Someone didn't want it to be found, and sent it in a direction no one would expect."

Kelly walked over to join John, examining the half-working monitor. She tensed at the words on the screen: Quarantine Protocol Initiated. "What do we know about the experiments that they were doing here?" Fred's question was out of place enough that Kelly turned to look his way. The male Spartan was standing over a dead body, dressed in an ONI uniform.

"We don't," John answered him, having turned his attention to the bodies as well. After a second he looked away and back toward the direction they'd been heading. "And we don't ask." Kelly wasn't a fan of not asking questions, at least when there were skeletal remains on a research station that someone had tried to hide.

Kelly stepped away from the console, trying to put the fate of the crew to the back of her mind. "Be aware of suit breaches and be sure to repair any breaks in seals." John, seemingly unfazed by the danger pressed on, and the rest of the team followed.

They moved deeper into the ship stopping only when John signaled it. "Hostile contact," he informed them over the COMMS. Kelly eased forward and could see the familiar glow of an Unggoy's methane pack. John motioned to her and then pointed to the opposite side of the room. She turned to look, and up a ramp there stood another one of the small aliens. She nodded to John and started forward. Despite the ton of MIJOLNIR armor they wore Kelly and John didn't make a sound as they crept up on their unsuspecting foes.

"Why do we have to do downloading?" Kelly's translator relayed to her as the Unggoy whined. It didn't surprise her that Jul's people had been smart enough to know that the data in the station was more valuable than the machinery. But it did surprise her that the Sangheili had left the task to grunt soldiers they saw as beneath them.

"Wish we were breaking glass. I like breaking glass," the Unggoy she was sneaking up on responded to the other. It was a pity those would be his last words, before she pulled out her knife and jammed it into the side of the small alien's skull. She jerked her blade free and its body hit the ground, echoing the small thud of its companion's.

Kelly moved back down the ramp to join the others as Linda and Fred entered the room. "Jul's people might already have data from the station."

"Data retrieval isn't our concern," John said, dismissing the issue. It was actually comforting to have his laser focus back in the field. Fred would have entertained her train of thought with apprehension, but John was quick to shut it out. It helped keep her head clear, and he knew that.

"If we suffocate all of them the won't be alive to give anyone the data," Fred pointed out. Kelly shrugged, admitting he was right. Dead Covies tell no tales.

"Motion on the other side of this door," Linda announced, directing them to the way forward. "I'm picking up maybe two enemies."

"Could be a pair of Mgalekgolo," Kelly suggested jokingly. If it had been Hunters they wouldn't need a motion tracker. The sound of the walking tanks on the metal floors would be enough of a warning.

"Could be Elites," John countered, still not completely used to calling the alien species by their formal names. He paused for a moment and then motioned to a circular side path on a different wall. "Less likely to suspect us," he said before stepping toward the path. The team followed him down the tunnel and past the surprising number of dead bodies that littered it. The door on the other end was open, an Unoggy standing with his back facing Blue Team. It didn't even see John before his rifle's butt caved in its head. John moved into the room, signaling for his team to take cover.

Kelly crouched behind a set of crates, peeking out to see the two Kig-Yar that stood ahead of them. A Sangheili stepped forward from another room, apparently just making its rounds. "Be ready to engage," John ordered, pulling a grenade from his belt. Kelly put away her Oathsworn and switched to her pistol, knowing that if there were more enemies they'd be at range. John pulled the pin on the explosive and lobbed it toward the cluster of Covenant. The orb hit the ground a short distance from the group before bouncing up and finally exploding. The blast killed the Kig-Yar instantly, but only dropped the Sangheili's shields and stunned him. There was a single crack from Linda's sniper before the wall was painted with the larger alien's blood. Kelly heard the low and angry roar of a second Sangheili, alerting the Spartans of addional enemies in the room ahead.

Blue Team filed into the opening in the wall that led to the attached room. There was a single Sangheili and two more Kig-Yar standing at the top of a ramp. Kelly aimed at one of the Kig-Yar, hitting its hand to cause it to lower it's energy shield before putting a second round into its skull. The second Kig-Yar was down by a single well placed shot from Linda, while the combined fire of the male Spartans downed the Sangheili. They started to move toward the ramp, still tense and waiting for more. There were never just a few Covenant after all. The Spartans reached the bottom of the ramp when a yellow-armored Sangheili stepped out, wielding an energy sword and a grudge. Blue Team opened fire as the mandibled alien charged them head on. Like a game of chicken, the Spartans held their ground with the Sangheili rushed without intent to stop. It was only a foot or so away when it's shield finally broke and the Spartans' fire cut into its flesh, killing it. The body crashed to the ground, energy blade falling harmlessly from its hand.

All four members of Blue Team remained still for a moment, waiting to be sure the threat had passed completely before they relaxed. "Did it seriously think that was going to work?" Linda asked, lowering her weapon as she looked at the dead body.

"There's a reason why the Arbiter doesn't mind us killing these guys," Kelly reminded her. "A military-centric society doesn't shed tears over the deaths of the undisciplined."

"I think he just wanted to deliver this sword to us," Fred said as he moved to pick up the energy blade. He deactivated the weapon and attached it to his thigh armor.

"Keep moving, Blue Team," John ordered, starting up the ramp. "Data center should be up ahead." They walked through the next door to find a semicircle wall around a holotank. It was the data center they'd been looking for.

John nodded to Kelly and she moved toward the terminal. Kelly activated her HUD, bringing up the information she'd need. "We've got a complete set of datasec-keys for this station," she said as she activated the terminal and applied the codes. "I should be able to pull down the schematics and find a path to Central Control."

"Datasec entry accepted," an artificial voice announced. A holographic version of the Argent Moon appeared over the table.

"I've accessed the databanks," Kelly informed her team.

"Grab the data and current population," John ordered. The Spartans didn't have a tech expert, but they didn't need one. The scientists at ONI made the infiltration programs, Blue Team just had to do the simple task of running them on whatever they were needed to be used on. Kelly was their designated tech handler, a role she'd played since their very first mission.

Fred approached the table, looking over the holographic display. "It should be a straight shot to Central Control through the assembly bay ahead," he observed. The Lieutenant paused for a moment before pointing to the hangar area. "There are still Prowlers in the hangar bays…Nobody from ONI got out of here alive, did they?"

"No," John answered bluntly.

It wasn't that he was being heartless, or didn't care that people had died, but Kelly knew he'd already come to the conclusion that there were no survivors left. Kelly's hand moved slightly, just barely brushing against the Master Chief's in a sign of reassurance. He was a consummate professional - but she was aware that he did feel for the fallen. Over the last year she'd noticed how he seemed more affected by the dead than he had been in the past, before any of the events before the fall of Reach. He hadn't experienced the last five years of almost-peace she and the others had. Rather having woken up to Covenant extremists, a murderous Forerunner, and dying soldiers as though the war had never ended. John turned just barely, pausing for just a fraction of a second in recognition of her gesture before he focused again. "Let's go," he ordered before moving around the data center's walls and toward the assembly bay. Kelly followed close on his heels.

The Spartans moved forward until they came to an elevator that would take them down into the bay. They gathered in the elevator and Linda hit the controls to begin their decent. "Everything's ripped up," Linda observed.

"They must be stripping that experimental ship for parts," Kelly commented.

"Scavengers," Fred huffed, showing his clear disdain for the undignified actions of Jul's Covenant. Kelly was never sure if the negativity he directed at the aliens' dishonorable behavior was his own, or if he'd assimilated that view the last few years from his Sangheili-allied partner. "They're just taking whatever supplies they can find. The war against the Arbiter must not be going well."

"Jul 'Mdama is a lot of things, but he's no prophet," Linda agreed.

To Kelly that was an understatement. All the information she'd read regarding how Jul had became the Covenant's new leader indicated he'd practically stumbled into it. The Arbiter was building up his people without the faith that that had once been the Sangheili's cornerstone. Meanwhile those that still followed the former-Prophet's teachings had seemingly been desperate for anyone that still at least acted like they were faithful. That had been Jul for some of them. But the reality was the pillars of their religion were long gone, and it made for unstable and desperate soldiers. For the Spartans it meant a less organized enemy force, which was more likely to have weaknesses to exploit.

The elevator reached the bottom and Blue Team disembarked. "Most direct route to the shipyard is through the wall ahead," Fred said.

"Full charge ahead, then," John said, taking off at a run toward a vent. He hit his thrusters, slamming through the weak metal and the others followed him. The Spartans slid down one of the angled pillars of the bay and straight toward a cluster of now very alert Covenant. The battle instinct that had been hammered into them all their lives kicked into high gear and the Blue Team engaged. They cut through the aliens with a precision and ease that was so familiar. They killed Unggoy, Kig-Yar, and Sangheili like a well oiled machine, reaching the other side of the bay quickly.

"Nobody's left standing," Fred said as the sound of gunfire and plasma weaponry finally came to a halt.

"The Covenant seem particularly disorganized lately," Kelly commented, having noticed during the firefight that their enemies seemed to have no battle strategy. Not only had they been scattered in the bay, but there seemed to be no word that they'd sent up an alarm.

"They're finally falling apart," Fred said sounding pleased with the prospect.

"Would be strange, wouldn't it? Not fighting them after all these years?" Linda asked.

"No," Fred stated simply.

"The Covenant's arrival didn't stop us fighting humans. The Covenant finally falling won't stop us fighting Sangheili," Kelly pointed out.

"Central Control is ahead," John said, cutting off the discussion. "Press ahead, Blue Team." He started to move through the doorway and across another catwalk with his teammates in tow. They'd nearly made it across when a set of crates went flying as a Mgalekgolo slammed through them. "Hunter!" John warned, but it was too late. The massive alien brought it's shield arm down on the walkway and it gave out under the Spartans' feet, sending them tumbling into the darkness below.


	4. Blue Team pt 2

Blue 5: Blue Team pt. 2

Kelly quickly took stock of her condition to be sure she hadn't suffered any severe injuries. Beside some slight pain from the impact of the fall she was satisfied that she hadn't suffered any injuries that would hinder her. Kelly got to her feet before reaching back to check that Oathsworn was still attached. She was relieved to find her shotgun still in place which meant she was armed. She scanned her surroundings, here enhanced eyes allowing her to see in the pitch black. She spotted Fred and Linda not far away, both getting to their feet. What caught her eye was John who was on his hands and knees not far away, not moving. She quickly made her way over to him, kneeling down at his side. "John? What's wrong?" She placed a hand on his shoulder and John's head moved slightly.

John lifted his head just a little before he fully raised his head to look at her. "What is the Domain?"

"The Domian?" Fred echoed as he approached the other Spartans. "I think I've heard Halsey mention something called that. I assume it's something Forerunner. Why?"

"I had a vision…or hallucination," John informed them. Kelly glanced toward Fred and Linda, trying to gauge their reaction to what he'd just said. She had to admit that she was slightly concerned but she couldn't allow that to echo out and unsettle the rest of the team. "A voice that sounded like Cortana said that the Domain was opening and that Meridian was next."

"That doesn't sound good," Kelly commented, trying to assert her belief in what John was saying he'd seen. She was concerned by him having hallucinations but there was also no way that John could have heard the word Domain anywhere.

"There was also a large machine, Forerunner, that rose up out of a chasm," John continued.

"That sounds worse," Fred commented and Kelly noted the tense tone to his voice. "You said that Cortana was speaking? Isn't she dead?"

"She is," John asserted forcefully though there was an edge to his voice that Kelly didn't like. "I watched her die." His words hung for a moment before John made a noticeable shift back to a focusing on their job. "Right now we have a mission to focus on. We can talk about this later. Lights on, Blue Team." Kelly bit back the urge to press the subject and turned on her flashlight. "Get us back on course for Central Control."

"Bringing up schematics," Fred said as he found them a path forward. "There's an elevator we can use, but it's four levels down."

"Mark a path," John ordered sharply. It was clear to Kelly that while he had closed the discussion on his 'vision' he hadn't completely stopped thinking about it.

A waypoint showed up on Kelly's HUD and she followed it, for now focusing on the mission. The Spartans moved down a tunnel that ramped downward. They made their way until it opened up into a room where a group of Unggoy were sleeping. John motioned for them to remain silent and the Spartans spread out through the room, quickly dispatching the unaware enemies. They had just killed the last of them when a door on the other side of the room opened and several Unggoy entered.

"Elites. Active camo," Linda announced. Kelly hadn't even spotted the shimmer in the darkness but it was times like this she was thankful for Linda's eagle eyes.

Fred and John both lobbed a grenade toward the cluster of Unggoy and Kelly immediately counted them as dead. Even if the explosives didn't get them all the male Spartans would finish off what was left. Instead Kelly chose to focus on the invisible enemies that posed a real threat. She turned around and shifted to watch John's back, eyes searching for even the smallest shimmer that would give away the enemy's location. There was a slight bit of movement to her left and Kelly turned toward it. She pumped a shell of Oathsworn at the enemy and the buck shot drained the Sangheili's shields allowing John to finish it off with a burst from his AR that tore through the alien's throat. Kelly turned around in time to see the second camo Sangheili fall to the ground, Fred with energy sword in hand.

"We're clear," Linda announced, relaxing her guard.

"Keep moving, Blue Team," John ordered as he moved toward the door that the aliens had come from. Kelly followed close behind as the entered the tunnels.

The Spartans made their way down into the tunnels to get to the lower levels. "So what do we know about Meridian?" Kelly asked, chancing that John wouldn't just immediately shut the conversation down.

To her surprise John didn't protest, allowing Fred to answer. "Earth colony that was glassed during the war. If I remember correctly there's no UNSC presence there."

"If there's something connected to the Domain, something that's Forerunner, then why did the Covenant glass the place?" Linda asked.

"Because they didn't know it was there," Kelly suggested flatly. "We didn't know the gateway to the Ark was on Earth."

"Fair point," Fred admitted.

John signaled his team to stop and they all instantly fell silent. Kelly listened intently until she finally heard what John had noticed. Hissing. She spotted the soft blue glow before the suicidal alien rounded the corner ahead of them. John opened fire and the alien fella few feet before it reached him. John knelt and turned his back to the explosives as they fell to the floor, lifting his arm to protect his helmet. The plasma grenades went off and John's shields dropped. The Master Chief stood, seemingly uninjured. The Spartans remained in place, waiting and listening for a moment for more Unggoy who were eager to meet their gods. When none appeared John motioned to Kelly and then motioned forward.

Kelly stowed her shotgun before grabbing the magnum from her thigh before she moved to the front of the team and started forward. When it came to suicide Unggoy Kelly's quick reflexes and aim were John's preferred solution. The Spartans continued down the tunnels until they reached an area with orange tinted windows. As they passed something slammed against the glass, the window cracking but denting rather than shattering. There were two more thuds and two more webs of cracks in the reinforced surface. Kelly could just barely make out a familiar hulking shadow through the tinted glass. "Hunters," she informed the team. "They're keeping pace with us."

The Spartans continued down the tunnels a bit further and after encountering a few more suicide Unggoy, which Kelly dispatched quickly, before they reached another level. They caught the gathered Unggoy and Kig Yar by surprise which they used to easily mow them down. The door across the room opened and there was a shimmer and a flash of light. "Zealot with an energy sword!" Linda announced.

"Fight for the glory of 'Mdama!" the rough voice of the zealot from across the room.

Kelly braced for a fight but Fred charged forward, clearly not interested in waiting for the fight to come to him. He must have been able to see the Sangheili enough to be able to dodge a strike, skillfully countering the blow and striking out so that his own energy blade pierced through the foe's chest."'Mdama has no glory," the Lieutenant huffed as the now visible body fell to the floor.

"She's rubbing off on you," Linda commented lightly, as she started to move across the room. Fred didn't respond to the comment and just started forward, taking point. Kelly followed with John close behind. "Wait, the Covenant battlenet just lit up," the sniper announced.

"Because a fleet of Covenant ships just arrived," Fred informed them from ahead. Kelly moved over to join him in time to see a multitude of Covenant Cruisers had appeared and more were coming out of slipspace. "We're outnumbered here, Chief. A few thousand to one."

"Surrendering _Argent Moon_ is not an option," John asserted.

"Neither is fighting half the Covenant in close quarters," Linda stated. Even Fred didn't fight the assertion.

"Then we scrap reaching Central Control. Our objective is now asset denial. We scuttle _the Argent Moon_," John ordered.

The door ahead of them slid open into an armory. "Same plan _as Perpetual Devotion_?" Fred asked as he checked one of the crates for any usable weapons.

"It's been a reliable strategy," John answered. "We overload the reactor and evac. Ship explodes, destroying any ship nearby. Like the fleet that just arrived."

"Would be nice to take out at least one ship with an opportunity like this," Kelly admitted. When the _Perpetual Devotion_ had gone up it had damaged a ship and destroyed another. If they got lucky with so many ships nearby maybe they could get two ships and weaken a couple more enough that the _Infinity_ could finish them off.

"The reactor is below the lab just ahead," Fred informed the team. "We can use air ducts to travel between them."

John moved over to an access panel and keyed in the passcode for the door to give them access. The door slid open and the Spartans entered the elevator.

The elevator started to move down and Kelly quickly ran a program to crack into the Covenant comms. She listened intently for a few seconds before slightly nudging Fred. "Covenant comms are filled with chatter that Jul 'Mdama is dead."

"Someone finally cut the head off the Covenant?" Fred asked, sounding pleased with the news. Kelly had been sure that out of all of them he was the one that was most happy with the news. "I hope she got the killing blow," he added, addressing the silence rather than the other Spartans.

The elevator reached the lab and a few orange worms slithered across the windows. "The hunters have caught up," John said as the worms gathered on the group and filled out the metal plates that had been lying on the floor. The hunters rose to their full height and let out a roar of anger. "Use the lab equipment to get high and stay out of their reach," he ordered.

The doors opened and Kelly took off out into the open lab floor. She climbed up onto one of the raised platforms that lined the walls. John climbed up behind her while Linda and Fred climbed up onto platforms across the room. The hunters below were unable to get to them and could only growl and hold their shields up to protect themselves. Unfortunately, the Spartans couldn't attack either. They were in a stalemate.

Kelly looked to John, expecting him to give orders to counter their situation. When he didn't Kelly was a bit troubled but pushed that aside and focused on the situation. Kelly moved forward and jumped down from the platforms, landing between the Hunters. The enemy lowered their shields and turned to face her. One took a swing with its shield like a cudgel but Kelly ducked down under the blow. There was a loud crack and one of the Hunters fell as Linda's sniper round found the opened weak spot. The second Hunter's eyes glowed and it roared in furry. In its rage the foe thrashed at Kelly and she was forced to make some close call dodges to avoid the wild swings. She was trying to keep close enough that it was focused on her, giving the other Spartans the best opportunity to strike at its weak spots.

The hunter suddenly jerked forward as if it had tripped and Kelly spotted John behind the behemoth. The Hunter turned to try to get at the foe behind it but John moved with its back as it turned until he was on the same side of it as Kelly. The Master Chief moved toward her and suddenly she realized what had happened. Kelly knelt, turned her back to the Hunter, and John moved to put himself between her and the threat as an extra wall of protection. The grenade inside the Hunter went off and John's shields flared as they were hit by the edge of the explosion and a splatter of Hunter bits.

With the enemy now dead Kelly relaxed and stood. John stood as well and started moving across the room. "Reactor core is just below us." He moved over to a metal cylinder and swiftly slammed his fist into the lock on its side, breaking it. No need to worry about equipment damage on a demolition opp. "Let's get moving," he said as the cylinder slid out of the way.

"Venting system released," the stations automated voice announced.

Kelly followed the other Spartans as they made their way to the now open hole. She glanced at John, something eating at her. His hesitation to order her to play rabbit against the Hunters was concerning. They had run that strategy many times and she didn't understand why he hadn't given the order. She decided that John had just assumed she knew what to do, but that didn't explain why he'd risk getting close enough to grenade the Hunter. In general even she didn't want to get too close to a Hunter when it was enraged and yet he'd taken the risk to stick his hand under its armor. She put aside her concerns, there would be time to maybe get clarification from him after the mission. Though it unsettled her to need to ask any of the Spartan IIs what they were thinking.

The Spartans jumped down the hole and landed in a small room. "The reactor room is just ahead. We can light this fuse and bolt," Fred said. Kelly was sure he wanted to get back to the _Infinity_ and confirm the information about Jul.

"No salvage for the Covenant," Linda added, sounding pleased.

John smashed through a ventilation grate on the other side of the room and the Spartans jumped down into the reactor room. Their arrival caught the Covenant soldiers off guard allowing them to clear out the Unggoy and some of the sniper Kig Yar on a catwalk above. They pushed through the room, Linda taking a perch in the place of the fallen Kig Yar while the rest of Blue Team advanced toward the core's control room which was filled with Sangheili. It was quick and easy work, like riding a bike, for the Spartans. A few decades of war tended to make you pretty good at fighting a particular enemy. They were clean and efficient, easily clearing out the control room.

"We're clear," John announced as he moved over to one of the control panels. "Initiating overload." He typed in the passcode and stepped back.

"Reactor failsafe disarmed. Failure imminent," the automated voice announced.

"Done," John announced, stepping away from the controls. "We need to get clear before it blows. Head to the hanger bay-"

John was cut off by a new message from the automated voice. "Containment protocol initiated," the voice informed them.

"Containment?" John asked, looking toward the other Spartans.

"The station's going to try to cool the reactor," Fred explained. "Should have guessed the UNSC has better reactor safety protocol than the Covenant."

"We can stop that," John said, moving toward the exit of the control station. "Board the reactor."

"Board the reactor?" Linda asked from her perch above the reactor.

"If it's moving, we go with it," John responded. The Spartans gathered in the center of the room on the top of the round reactor.

"Coolant Chamber readied," the stations automated voice announced. "Stand clear of deployment bay." The reactor below them started to decent and the Spartans grouped up in the center of the reactor to avoid the walls around them.

"The safety systems are set to pump coolant to the reactor," Fred explained. "If it succeeds then the whole plan fails."

"Shame to lose the _Argent Moon_, but I'd love to see the look on the Covenant's face when she goes supernova," Kelly commented. There was likely years of development on the station but she'd be lying if she said that she wasn't willing to give it all up to harm the Covenant.

The reactor descended into a large low gravity room that was partially open to the void of space. The reactor lowered into a metal ring platform in the center of the room. There were banshees on platforms around the room and Kelly assumed that meant that the room was already infested with Covenant troops.

"How do we stop the coolant?" John asked.

"There are sheds located on either side of the cooling chamber," Fred explained, motioning toward platforms on either side of the room that had small buildings on them. "We get to those sheds we can stop the cooling system."

"Then those are our target," John confirmed, looking around the room. The platforms with the sheds on them weren't connected to the ring where the reactor was docking which meant then needed a way across. "Banshees," John said, motioning to the two platforms the ring was connected to where there were four of the aerial vehicles.

"Looks like we'll need them for more than transport," Kelly said as she spotted a couple of Phantoms enter the chamber and move toward the platforms where the Banshee's sat.

The reactor secured into the metal ring and the Spartans went to work. They jumped down to the ring as lines of Unggoy stated to move across the bridge toward them. The Spartans opened fire, cutting through the enemy lines. They made their way to the platform where each of the Spartans manned a Banshee and took to the skies. Kelly started to make wide laps around the room, breaking away only to take aim at an enemy Banshee. They seemed surprised for her to open fire, allowing her to kill it with relative ease while John and Fred made their way to the sheds to hit the controls. Kelly hit the spot a Phantom was dropping off troops with a Banshee bomb, sending Unggoy corpses floating off into the void.

"Warning: Security shutters disengaged," the stations automated voice announced, alerting Kelly of John's success finding the controls. "Warning: Cooling system shutters exposed to open space."

"The coolant system's inner systems are exposed," John informed the team. "Use the Banshees to hit the pipes. It can't cool it if there's no way for the coolant to reach the reactor."

The Spartans spread out through the room and targeted the weak spots in the piping around the room, breaking the cooling system enough that it wouldn't be able to stop the reactor's meltdown and ruin their plan. "Coolant system failing. Reactor core temperature rising. Evacuation advised," the stations system warned.

"I think that means it's time for us to evac," Fred said. "These Banshees aren't fast enough to get clear of the reactor explosion."

Kelly triggered the auto pilot on their Pelican but there was no response. "Pelican's autopilot isn't responding. Armada must've taken it out."

There was a second pause before John decided on their course of action. "Find the nearest hanger bay. We're talking a Prowler."

Fred checked the ship's map and found the hanger where they knew a Prowler was waiting. A waypoint appeared on Kelly's HUD and she turned her Banshee toward a shielded opening on one side of the room. The Spartans moved through it and ditched their Banshees so they could move down the hallways to the hanger. They thankfully found no resistance as they made their way to the hanger.

"Hanger's full of Covenant," Linda announced as they moved past the viewing windows of the hanger bay.

"Clear them out and prep for launch," John ordered.

"Quickly," Fred added. "I'd rather not be here when the station goes."

The Spartans made their way into the hanger, and quickly cleared it of enemies. "Launch controls are here," John announced from the far end of the room. The Spartans gathered near the controls as John initiated the launch sequence.

"Vehicle launch preparation. Fuel Cells at zero percent. Initiating refueling," the station announced.

"Of course it's not pre-fueled," Fred muttered quietly. Kelly could tell from the somber tone of his voice that he was again focused on the lost crew of the station. Focusing on those they couldn't save but it was in Fred's nature to get hung up on the people he couldn't help.

"Let's hope it refuels quickly or we'll be to close when the reactor goes," Kelly commented, subtilty trying to pull Fred back to the task at hand. He looked to her and after a second nodded, focused once more on the current situation.

"Covenant incoming," Linda announced as Unggoy and Kig Yar started to enter the hanger.

The Spartans fought off several waves of Covenant while the system worked to refuel the Prowler. The Covenant threw everything they had at the Spartans, including a second pair of Hunters. It was lucky for the Spartans that a few of the Unggoy had dropped some Fuel Rod Cannons making dispatching the tank-like aliens easy.

"Prowler fuel cells at 100 percent. Launch is primed," the station finally announced after the fighting had ended.

"Perfect timing," Linda said as the Spartans gathered under the Prowler. "Clear of enemies and clear for launch."

John moved over to the controls and hit the 'Launch' button causing the platform they were standing on to rise toward the prowler. "How long to we have?"

"89 seconds," Fred answered.

John nodded and contacted _Infinity_. "Sierra 117 to _Infinity_. _Argent Moon_ scuttled." John paused for a barely noticeable moment before he continued. "I've reassigned Blue Team, destination Meridian. Potential contact from Cortana and Forerunner technology."

The communications officer seemed to have passively dismissed the Spartan. "Negative, 117. We have no record of any communique from Meridian. Reassignment is not approved. Return to _Infinity _immediately."

The Spartans all looked to John, waiting for his que on what their next step was. "Negative, _Infinity_," he finally said, as he hit the button to activate the Prowler's bay door. "I don't like it."

"Hopefully the people of Meridian don't give us any trouble," Kelly said as she moved up the ramp and into the Prowler.

"Maybe the Prowler has some data on relations with Meridian so we aren't walking in blindly," Fred suggested as she followed her up the ramp.

"Even if they court-martial us the worst they'll do is have us retire," Linda commented as she started up the ramp herself.

Kelly stopped at the top of the ramp and John looked up as his team entered the Prowler. He followed them up, stopping beside Kelly for just a moment and there was an uneasy determination as he nodded to her and continued into the ship. She followed behind them as they made their way to the cockpit. John took his seat at the main controls while Kelly moved to man the navigation. John launched the Prowler, activating the active cloaking as the _Argent Moon _detonated behind them.

Note: And with that two of the problems I had with this level. This was a long one so it took me longer than expected. The next couple of chapters shouldn't be nearly as long or take as long for me to write. Sorry for the delay.


	5. Infinity

Blue 5 Chapter 5

"You let him go?" Halsey demanded as she walked onto the bridge of the Infinity. Captain Lasky glanced up at her and then turned his attention back to the report he was reading.

"What a brilliant assessment of events," Palmer grumbled as she kept pace with the elderly doctor. "And a completely wrong one."

Captain Lasky, to his credit, ignored the Doctor Halsey's accusation. "Congratulations on your confirmed kill, Commander. Jul's death will be a weight off of Infinity's shoulders."

"How could you just let him go?" Halsey asserted, clearly agitated by being ignored. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

Lasky finally turned his attention to the scientist, his face serious in a way Palmer usually only saw when he was reprimanding a soldier. "No one let anyone do anything," he informed her calmly. It was times like this she was thankful for Lasky being her CO. Because she'd rather just stuff a sock in Halsey's mouth than entertain her complaining. "Blue Team was on an ONI science station and stole a Prowler. I'm not sure how you think ordering them back to the ship is letting them run off, AWOL."

"Tell me that you're at least doing something to get them back before something happens to him," Halsey demanded. Palmer scowled, annoyed with the woman's tone toward her Captain and the fact that she seemed to be purposefully ignoring that there were four Spartans, not just one, in potential danger.

"That's not your concern," Lasky replied curtly. "How the situation is dealt with is a Spartan matter, not a civilian one."

"It is absolutely my concern," Halsey tried to contradict. "They are my Spartans."

"No, they aren't," Lasky informed her. "They're her Spartans." The Captain motioned toward Palmer and she nodded slightly. To her every Spartan on Infinity was her responsibility, and Blue Team had been stationed under her command. "She'll decide how to deal with Blue Team's desertion." Palmer flinched internally at the terms he used, but she knew it was more to set a forceful tone with the doctor than actually being about the Spartan-IIs. "So if there's any information that you think is important to the situation that would assist Commander Palmer in her decision making, maybe you'd like to share it."

Palmer suppressed a smile, enjoying Lasky fully stepping into the role of Captain like this. Halsey scowled, clearly displeased with his pushback. She seemed to think better of continuing the argument though, a troubling sign to Palmer. It wasn't like the doctor to not want to assert her presumed superiority. "I found something in the Forerunner network."

"What kind of something? Would it happen to be giant machines capable of killing thousands in a matter of minutes?"

"No," Halsey answered, though she seemed to consider the new information before she continued. "I found a presence in the network, and it was looking for something and knew what it was looking for."

Palmer shared a quick glance with Lasky before she gave her full attention to Halsey. "What sort of presence? A monitor AI? Covenant?"

"It was certainly an AI, but not a monitor," Halsey confirmed. "It also didn't make inquiries to the network but instead brute forced its way to the information stored there. Palmer wasn't sure how an AI used brute force to get data, but she was certain that this indicated something larger was afoot. After all, if a group robs a bank and takes only a specific deposit box, it means more than a standard smash-and-grab. "I don't know exactly what it took, because when it undermined the system it was able to take the root file. Though I approximated what the subject of the files were based on where they were stored in the system."

Lasky nodded, processing what she'd just told them. "ONI will want to know what you think it took."

"I'm sure they will," Halsey said, clearly less than thrilled. "Though there is something else about the presence you should know. It identified itself as Cortana."

Palmer scowled and quickly turned her head toward the Captain, making her concern known. It had been almost two years, and she hadn't expected to hear the name of a destroyed AI two times in one day.

"You said 'identified'?" Lasky asked.

"In every basic way it seemed like it was Cortana, but in other ways it was not like her at all," Halsey tried to explain. She picked up on the fact that she wasn't being clear enough and continued. "I created Cortana, I know her, and I've studied rampancy for the majority of my career. If it was Cortana that took the files, then something is very wrong with her."

"Wrong in what way?" Roland asked, his avatar popping into existence on the holo-table. "She was already rampant when she was supposedly destroyed."

"The best word I can use to explain it is 'corrupted'," Halsey said. "Whatever was wrong with her wasn't rampancy, it was something deeper than that. My best theory at this time would be that something like a virus has affected her."

"Like the Logic Plague?" Palmer asked. She remembered reading something before that mentioned a Forerunner AI being infected with a virus by the Flood.

Halsey gave Palmer a suspicious look, and Palmer fought the urge to smack it off the old woman's face. She was tired of being passively belittled by the doctor. "Possibly," Halsey finally admitted, though she somehow still managed to have a dismissive tone. "Though as far as I've been able to surmise based on accounts, she wasn't affected by it after her interactions with the Gravemind. So whatever has caused the corruption isn't the Flood."

"Great, just what we need," Lasky muttered, letting out a long breath. "Well you can explain all of that to ONI in detail. But for now," Lasky motioned toward Spartan Lowra who was waiting nearby, "please show the Doctor to her quarters," he ordered.

"I hope my cell at least has a bed this time," Halsey sniped.

"There have been attacks on human colonies that have resulted in thousands of deaths, and seems to be Forerunner in origin," Lasky informed Halsey, catching the woman by surprise. "Seeing as you're an expert on Forerunners, they want you to help them figure out what is causing these attacks. The deal is if you work with the scientists then you get quarters like a scientist."

"And why would I help the UNSC, when as soon as the work is done they'll just lock me away again? Or sick one of their dogs on me?" Halsey glanced in Palmers direction. The Spartan Commander scowled. The doctor was really trying her patience today.

"Because you could prevent the deaths of thousands more innocent people. And anyone with even a shred of decency would want to help avoid mass slaughter," Palmer suggested.

"Because right now you're considered a liability. Showing the UNSC that you have a use when Forerunner machines are posing a threat, like they currently are, might change you back to being an asset. Or you can go sit in a cell and wait for Palmer to get her orders. I promise you she won't hesitate again," Lasky assured the woman.

Halsey seemed to consider her options and decide how serious the Captain truly was. She turned toward Spartan Lowra, who was still standing by, unsure of what to do. "Lead the way." She moved away from the holo-table and toward the waiting Spartan. Lowra looked to Palmer for a moment and she waved him off, happy to have Halsey as far away from her as possible.

Palmer waited until the door shut before she turned back to Lasky. "So how soon until we reach Meridian?"

"We'll be dropping out of slipspace in fifty minutes," Roland answered. "Depending on if the locals stall us, you should be on the ground before dinner."

Palmer scowled, frustrated with having to wait to get out into the field. With how efficient Blue Team was, they could get into a lot of trouble before her team could intercept. She had to rely on Infinity's slipspace drives being more advanced than those on a Prowler. She glanced toward Lasky who she could tell was trying to bite his tongue. "Got a problem?" Palmer asked.

Lasky turned his attention toward her, accepting that she wasn't going to let his concerns be left unspoken. "Are you sure that Osiris is the team to take care of this?" Palmer scowled at him and Lasky let out a long sigh. "You and I both know you take situations involving the Spartans personally."

"They're my Spartans," Palmer reminded him. "Why shouldn't I take matters involving them personally?" Lasky seemed to hesitate again, looking away from her but Palmer wasn't known for letting things go. "Are you doubting me?"

"No," Lasky asserted, shooting her a look that told her how annoyed he was with the question. "I know you'll do your job, you always do, but..." Palmer pulled a face that made it clear he should be careful about what he said next. "If you take everything involving your soldiers personally you'll burn yourself out. And this isn't some random fireteam you're going after."

"No, it's just the most recognizable Spartan and the three most important soldiers in the UNSC who have become derelict in their duty and need to be dragged back." Palmer set her hands on her hips and fought the urge to start pacing. Every second she was standing here she was risking losing Blue Team's tracks. "Osiris is the only logical option. They're some of my best Spartans. I trust them with this sort of sensitive mission, and I'm the only Spartan who has the authority to order them to do anything."

"As long as you're sure," Tom relented. Though Palmer got the feeling he wasn't completely in agreement. Though after the past year he'd learned not to fight her on Spartan-related matters. She appreciated his concern, and his heart was in the right place, but she knew what she was doing. "I trust your judgment, Sarah."

"Thanks, Tom," Palmer replied, giving him a slight smile to assure him that voicing his concerns hadn't caused ruffled feathers. "I promise to pretend to be a proper officer, and be professional."

"You and I both know you're an ODST more than an officer," Lasky said, smiling himself. "Just try to keep the cursing to a minimum. Don't think that will get you to many points in convincing him to come home."

"Fair enough," Palmer replied, relaxing her stance. "I'm going to brief my team and get to prepping. Better than standing around doing nothing productive - like an officer." Lasky chuckled as he shook his head, and Palmer turned to walk off the bridge.

Note: So this is one of the first things where I've only used like 5% of the original content but I thought this cutscene was so bad and served so little purpose to the story so I made something that I felt served a purpose. Hope you all enjoy it, the next one will also be a slightly short one like this to catch up with blue team before going into the actual "mission" on Miridian.


End file.
